Rumours have been circulating about the pair in recent years following their respective divorces. Putin, 63, separated from his wife Lyudmila in 2014 after a thirty year marriage, and Murdoch filed for divorce from Deng, 47, in 2013, after fourteen years of marriage.

They share a mutual friend in billionaire Chelsea Football club owner Roman Abramovich, onboard whose yacht Deng was spotted this week.

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Earlier this month, a Kremlin spokesman denied rumours that Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva had given birth to Putin's child.“The information on a baby born to Vladimir Putin is false,” Dmitry Peskov said. “I am going to ask people who have money to organise a contest on the best media rumor.”

The reports come less than a month than Murdoch married 59 year old supermodel Jerry Hall, tweeting “Feel like the luckiest and happiest man in the world.”